In the past few years, portability of beverage containers has become of increased importance as consumers began to prefer disposable, lightweight beverage containers. In addition, it has been increasing popular to provide consumer-sized packages of drinking water so that the consumer can control the purity and sterility of the water consumed at any location. To satisfy this demand, plastic bottles, made for example from polyethylene terephthalate, have been used to package drinking water. Various caps have been provided for such bottles so that the consumer can be assured that no contamination has occurred to the beverage inside. As an example, a threaded cap has been provided which can be unscrewed from complementary threads molded into the bottle material in a conventional manner. A portion of the cap breaks loose from another portion of the cap, forming a ring, due to the unscrewing action. Therefore prior to initial consumption, the consumer is assured that the package has not been tampered with as long as the ring has not already been detached. Another approach to providing a tamper-evident container to consumers has been with the so-called "sports bottles." A cap is provided that has a spout. The spout may be placed in either an open position or a closed position. In this case, the entire cap need not be unscrewed from the bottle. The spout can be moved to the opened position which allows liquid contents to be released and returned to the closed position when it is desired to once again seal the bottle. With this type of cap, it has been necessary to provide features which show the consumer that the bottle has not been tampered with. An approach to this problem has been to shrink wrap the spout and/or entire cap portion of the bottle. In some instances, a peel-off film is also provided over the top of the bottle opening. The consumer must then remove the cap by unscrewing, peel off the film, and replace the cap. The shrink wrap on the spout must also be removed prior to drinking from the spout.
Another approach to the problem of beverage portability has been to provide flexible beverage pouches. Examples of such pouches are laminated foil pouches which have a designated area weaker than the result of the pouch, typically in the side of the pouch. An aperture can be formed by poking a sharp straw through this designated area on the pouch. The straw then is used by the consumer to drink the beverage contained in the flexible packaging. While convenient, such pouches are not tamper evident. Another approach to flexible drinking packaging, an alternative to the poke-through straw approach, has been disclosed. In this approach, a fitment is sealed to the side of the pouch. An aperture in the pouch is defined by a first end of the fitment. The fitment is threaded in a manner adapted to receive a cap with complementary threads. An opening defined by the second end of the fitment to the atmosphere may be sealed with a flexible material such as a foil. A threaded cap is provided which can be screwed onto the fitment sealed into the side of the bag. With this type of package, the consumer may remove the cap, peel off the foil and then drink the beverage through the spout. When the consumer desires to seal the pouch, he may do so by screwing the cap on the fitment.
Although the approaches to portability of beverages have provided suitable containers, such containers have also introduced a variety of problems. With respect to plastic bottles, not all types of plastic are recyclable and even if recyclable, this property is not always taken advantage of by the consumer. It is difficult to attain the goals of using disposable portable packaging along with the goals of recycling. Further, if the caps are replaced on bottles before they are taken to a landfill, the bottles will not compress and thus will take up a great deal of room in the ever-shrinking supply of landfills. In addition, assuring that the package has not been tampered with increases expenses to the manufacturing process. The package must go through one or more additional stages of manufacture after filling of the bottle with the beverage of choice in order to insure that the package is sealed. This requires the bottler to purchase additional equipment in order to insure that the package is tamper-evident upon sale.
With respect to the flexible beverage containers, it is often difficult to poke the sharp straw through the designated opening. This operation sometimes results in the beverage being spilled while the user attempts to make the package into a workable beverage dispenser. Furthermore, if the straw has been lost or misplaced, it becomes impossible to use the package in the manner intended by the manufacturer. The straws must be sealed separately for sanitation, requiring additional manufacturing operations. If the packaged straws are adhered to the packages of beverage, yet another operation is needed.
The approach to the problem which involves providing a fitment sealed into the side of a flexible package solves the problem of the possibility of the straw implement being separated from the package since the consumer can easily unscrew the cap, peel back the foil and access the beverage. However, this packaging requires several manufacturing steps as well as the fitments which add expense to the operation.
In addition to the beverages, there has been a need for packaging items such as shampoos, cosmetics, lotions and creams, and powders in an inexpensive, yet tamper-evident manner. Particularly where individual or travel-sized portions are desired such as in hotels and the like, packaging costs can skyrocket when tamper-evident features are employed. The simple individual foil pouch, such as those used for a wide range of products from ketchup to suntan lotion are convenient only if all the contents are utilized at once since they have no resealing features.